In the latest in a series of conciliatory moves, Mr. Obama appointed Bill Daley, a Chicago political operative turned financier, as his chief of staff, and brooked a simmering trade dispute with Mexico.

The appointment of Mr. Daley begins a reshuffle of the senior White House staff that is expected to bring more business experience into the president's inner circle, administration officials say. Mr. Daley, who served as Commerce Secretary in the Clinton administration, was a harsh critic of new financial-market regulations, and he has publicly pressed Mr. Obama to steer a more centrist course on the economy.

"Few Americans can boast the breadth of experience that Bill brings to this job," Mr. Obama said Thursday. "He's led major corporations; he possesses a deep understanding of how jobs are created."

Mr. Obama has compelling reasons to repair relations with corporate America. Unemployment remains stubbornly high. There's little likelihood of significant new stimulus spending from Congress or big new moves by the Federal Reserve to pump money into the economy.

That means the key to economic growth—and Mr. Obama's re-election prospects—could lie in corporate treasuries. U.S. non-financial businesses are sitting on nearly $2 trillion in cash and liquid assets, the most since World War II, and Mr. Obama wants them to use it to create more U.S. jobs.

ENLARGE

Mr. Obama is now seeking the help of businesses to create jobs. Above, a California rally in August.
Getty Images

More

The president has been reaching out directly to U.S. companies, meeting with 20 chief executives last month to ask for ideas on policies that would inspire them to invest and hire. And on Feb. 7, Mr. Obama will cross Lafayette Park from the White House to the headquarters of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, his longtime political nemesis, to discuss working together on job creation.

"The administration took some positive steps recently, striking a bipartisan agreement to extend current tax rates, moving the ball forward on the U.S.-Korea free trade agreement, and reaching out to the business community," says Thomas J. Donohue, the chamber's president. "We're not going to agree on everything, but there's a lot we can get done for the American people."

The change in tone comes after more than a year when many business leaders complained about their relations with the White House, and a midterm election period in which Mr. Obama and the chamber publicly lambasted each other.

Mr. Obama would meet periodically with chief executives to discuss issues, but some business leaders said they saw little action. Instead, the White House advocated proposals, such as the health plan and higher taxation of corporations' overseas income, that business leaders said discouraged investment.

Jerry Seib explains why President Obama's appointment of William Daley as the new White House Chief of Staff is a reassuring move to the business community. Plus, why some builders are betting big on big mansions.

"We are focused on moving forward and working together on the areas where we agree including export promotion, trade, investment in innovation," says White House spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki.

Mr. Obama is expected to further deepen his administration's business bench in coming days by bringing "manufacturing czar" Ron Bloom, a former top adviser to United Steelworkers union chief Leo Gerard, and a former investment banker at Lazard Freres & Co., into the White House in a beefed-up manufacturing policy role.

Mr. Obama and important sectors of the business community still have substantial disagreements. Health care and financial markets regulations still rankle some groups, and the oil industry and others are unhappy with moves to limit offshore oil exploration.

Dan DiMicco, chief executive of steelmaker Nucor Corp., calls the president's efforts to work more closely with business "a small beginning in a much, much bigger arena of problems. They give with one hand and take 100 times more with another, either through inaction on bigger issues…or with thousands of unnecessary regulations."

The turning point, say some business leaders and White House officials, was the administration's decision in the spring to revive the dormant South Korea free-trade agreement, and to look to the chamber for help, even as the business group and Mr. Obama were exchanging rhetorical fire in the heat of the fall campaign.

In His Own Words: Obama has been less critical of business

Then:

"The way to make American businesses competitive is not to let some citizens and businesses dodge their responsibilities while ordinary Americans pick up the slack."

-- May 4, 2009, remarks on international tax policy

"I did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of fat cat bankers on Wall Street."

-- Dec. 12, 2009, interview with CBS's "60 Minutes" program

Now:

"We can't succeed unless American businesses succeed. And I'm going to do everything I can to promote their ability to grow and prosper."

-- Nov. 12, 2010, press conference in Seoul

"I hope to elicit ideas from these business leaders that will help us not only climb out of recession, but seize the promise of this moment."

-- Dec. 15, 2010, statement before a meeting with CEOs

A revised agreement reached with Seoul is slated to begin the process of congressional ratification this month, and will help Mr. Obama reach his goal of doubling U.S. exports by 2015. Passage of the deal would also deliver on Mr. Obama's pledge to multinationals to revive stalled trade agreements; some leaders had questioned the president's commitment to free trade. It comes as the White House studies options for passing long-stalled pacts with Colombia and Panama, and moves to end an effective U.S. ban on Mexican trucks entering the U.S. that has subjected U.S. goods to a range of punitive tariffs.

"There's no downside to any of these three agreements for American workers," says Doug Oberhelman, chief executive of Caterpillar, Inc.

Though neither side has discussed it publicly, the White House relied on the Chamber of Commerce to help the U.S. strike a deal with Seoul by acting as a go-between with Korean negotiators and U.S. industry, administration officials, chamber and corporate executives say.

In October, the chamber led a delegation of 24 corporations to Korea. There, the group used its Republican credentials to persuade Seoul that a GOP-led Congress wouldn't cut a better deal, so they should act now on the agreement. "We briefed the U.S. Trade Representative and the White House on what we planned to say, and we talked with them about what we heard," says a corporate participant in the meetings.

ENLARGE

Cutouts of Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis, left, and JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, right, are held high during a protest in Chicago in October of 2009.
European Pressphoto Agency

The chamber again stepped in after talks on the Korea deal collapsed during November's Group of 20 meeting in Seoul. In a 3 a.m. call to Mr. Donohue, who was in Seoul, Tami Overby, the chamber's top Asia hand, passed word that the talks had stalled over Ford Motor Co.'s demand for more favorable auto tariffs. She relayed a request from the Obama team: Would the chamber help keep Seoul, and U.S. industry, committed to the talks for a few more weeks?

Within minutes, Mr. Donohue called Ford chief executive Alan Mulally, who clarified the company's position and cleared confusion among the U.S. negotiators, according to a person familiar with the call.

Meanwhile, Ms. Overby, who led the chamber's affiliate in Seoul for two decades and who motorcycles and hang-glides with Korean trade minister Kim Jong-hoon, pressed the Korean side to budge on the auto tariffs.

"The chamber gave us the time and space to go out and get a better deal, but they did more than that—they were clearly messaging to the Koreans that they needed to show more flexibility," says Steve Biegun, Ford's vice president for international governmental affairs, who was present during the talks.

On Wednesday, legislators received a letter signed by 1,655 companies and organizations supporting passage of the Korea, Colombia and Panama free-trade agreements. The chamber and White House are betting that the chamber's general antagonism toward the administration will make it a more credible advocate for the trade deal in a new, divided Congress.

"I think going forward you're going to see an environment where business is not as concerned about the direction of regulation as they have been over the last two years," says Robert Wolf, chairman of UBS Group Americas, who attended Mr. Obama's most recent meeting with chief executives. Mr. Wolf says his sense now is "that the business community should have a seat at the table."

The administration will need the currency it's built up with business during the congressional session ahead. Republicans are taking aim at Mr. Obama's signature health-care law, and the overhaul of financial markets regulations. Republican leaders are working with businesses to identify a slew of rules to roll back. Obama initiatives will come under scrutiny from Republican budget hawks who will demand that new spending—but not tax cuts—be paid for with trims to other programs.

The administration has cautioned that it may not press for a corporate tax overhaul this year, a delay that will draw criticism from multinationals who say they can't compete effectively with current rates. And the administration is relying on business groups to take a lead role in passing the trade deals, countering opposition from unions and a skeptical public.

White House officials hope Mr. Daley, who served as the Clinton administration's point man with Congress on regulatory and trade issues, will prove an asset in those fights. Mr. Daley received praise from GOP fundraiser Fred Malik, who calls him "the first high-level Obama official who has held a real position in business. He understands the business community."

Some executives say they're cheered by the fact that Mr. Obama has finally made the "hard pivot" to jobs that he's been promising for more than a year. "All of these are excellent, pro-business moves," says Fred Smith, chief executive of FedEx Corp. and a longtime Republican backer. "I've been in Washington enough to know that things move at a Washington pace, not a business pace, but I'm glad to see them happen. Things like this needed to happen to get the economy going."

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.